


Nothing To Hide

by fumomoshi



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fluff, Haunted Houses, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 10:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14788409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fumomoshi/pseuds/fumomoshi
Summary: In this fic, Sui and Karu had already gotten together, but they are still ‘transitioning’, so they are still not used to having physical intimate contact with each other, though they are trying hard to have more opportunities. They still kind of want to keep their relationship a secret though, although they do not really mind of people actually found out. An open secret if you will.In this fic, Karu, a teacher, invites Sui to the cultural festival held in his school. His students did a haunted house (more like a room)  and together they explored it.





	Nothing To Hide

The school is bustling with activity. Attractions and decorations flood the entire compound as teachers, students and visitors wander around to participate. Cries of promotion, shrieks of laughter and chatters of excitement fill the hot, humid air as everyone celebrates the Cultural Festival.

Except Sui, who is trying hard to breathe. He peeks at his watch and rolls his eyes slightly.  _ One hour _ . It's only one hour since he's been here and he already wants to go home. Sui isn't the kind who is able to stand amongst the crowd for long periods. When he participated in Cultural Festivals in his school, he would prefer to help out at the back of the booths, and during his break time, he would be more than happy to rest at someplace far away from the crowd.  _ Like the rooftop _ . 

"Sui, are you okay?"

Sui snaps to attention. In front of him, Karu stands in his gym clothes and sneakers.  _ And spectacles _ . When he arrived here earlier, he almost died laughing upon seeing Karu in one, and he's almost tempted to laugh here again, except that he feels a little tired to do so. 

"Karu," Sui struggles to smile. "I get it that you are a Phys Ed teacher and thus the gym clothes but must you really wear the spectacles?"

Karu pumps his chest out, placing his hands at his hips. "I'm a teacher, so I must dress the part! Besides, doesn't this make me look more mature and intelligent?"

_ No, you look like an idiot. _ Sui wants to say.

Karu's look changes to one of concern. "Are you okay, though?" he asks again. "You seem awfully quiet. "I mean, you are usually quiet but today you are quiet-quiet."

Sui heaves a breath. Yes, he is tired, drained rather, but he doesn't want to let Karu know, who excitedly dragged him all the way to his school just to attend the festival. 

"I'm fine," he lies. 

Karu raises his eyebrows, not convinced. Sui avoids his gaze. Karu is getting really sharp at reading him, not that Sui minds, but sometimes he wished that he could lie so that Karu would stop worrying about him and just have his own fun.

_ But it's not fun when Sui's not having fun too! _ Karu's words echo in his mind. 

"Let's visit my class first, then!" Karu chirped, nudging Sui towards the opposite direction. Sui is too tired to complain. _ Besides, anywhere else other than here is better. _

A few stairs and passages later, Sui finds his head clearing a little. He notices that the atmosphere is lighter, though it is still crowded by his standards. 

"There seems to be less people here," he comments. 

"Ahaha! Well, this time we kinda restricted the areas to specific themes," Karu explains. "The corridor where my class is is assigned to some mystical themed stuff so I guess the people it attracts are less."

"And the area just now was?"

"Food and Games," Karu scratches his head. "Apparently."

"That's not really a theme." Sui points out. 

Karu gives a shrug. "It kinda is, I guess."

"Karusawa-sensei! It's Karusawa-sensei!" 

A cheery voice echoes from down the corridor. A girl in a short ponytail jumps up and down at the front of a classroom door, smiling and waving at their direction. "Karusawa-sensei! Over here!" She calls again. It's almost as if she took too much coffee in the morning. Sui can’t believe that someone more hyper than Karu exists.

"Oh it's Karusawa-sensei." A softer voice chimes in. Another girl walks out of the door. Sui thought she is rather pretty; long wavy black hair, doe eyes, calm expression, straight posture, almost like a princess.

"Karusawa-sensei! You came like you promised!" The ponytailed girl exclaims, still jumping up and down. "Karusawa-sense-OW!" 

Suddenly, the ponytailed girl was ambushed from behind by a rolled up newspaper clobbered onto her head. "Oi, you are disturbing the rest!" This time, a boy walks out. Sui almost had a heart attack. The boy is the splitting image of Karu, but somehow has an angrier expression.  _ Like Rudo? _ Sui hides a small grin. He has never seen Karu angry before so this feels refreshing, somehow. 

"You are really popular it seems," Sui says, as the ponytailed girl starts to pick a fight with the younger version of Karu with Rudo's expression. 

"It comes with it's problems," Karu replies with a wry smile. 

"Ah! Karusawa-sensei, is this your friend?” The long-haired girl interrupts, bowing slightly towards Sui.  _ Polite too.  _ Sui bows back. 

“Yeah!” Karu chirps. “This is Sui!”

“Sui?!” the girl gasps, hands covering her mouth and eyes wide as if in shock.  _ Wait, what’s with that reaction? _ Sui glances at Karu for answers, but he doesn’t seem to react. “N-Nice to meet you!” She says, bowing again (Sui bows back) before quickly turning back to talk to her other two classmates, who are still bickering behind her. Sui thinks that her actions are less calm compared to before, but he shrugs it off.  _ Maybe I’m thinking too much.  _

The bickering finally stops, with all three students turning together at once, looking excitedly towards them.  _ A bit too excited. Maybe they are just young. _

"Karusawa-sensei is so sneaky, bringing your  _ friend _ to our haunted house!" The ponytailed girl grins cheekily. Sui can’t help but flinch at her strange emphasis on the word ‘friend’.

Karu returns a blank look. "Huh? What do you mean?"

_ Hmm. _

"Arg, let’s not waste time," the Karu-Rudo boy says, flashing a grin of his own.  _ Now he looks a bit like Rako.  _ He gestures towards the entrance, as the two girls edges them towards it. 

Sui didn’t pay much attention before, but now that he’s near, he notices how scary the entrance looks. The dark as twilight cloth, flickering old lantern, lifelike decorations, a chilly breeze and soft mist periodically blowing out of the entrance, Sui can even pick out a hint of soft ambient music playing in the background. If the corridor weren’t brightly lighted by sunlight, Sui wouldn’t consider entering. 

"This looks really well made," Sui comments, mostly to calm himself down. 

"It is, isn’t it!" Karu beams with pride. "As expected of my students!"

"Why don’t you guys try it out?" The Karu-Rudo-now-Rako boy chides. "All of our customers come out satisfied."

"We’ll even let you guys go in free!" The ponytailed girl exclaims, energetically raising her arms.

"Oi! Don’t make decisions like that on your own!"

"But but-"

"But I guess it’s fine if it’s  _ these two _ ." The boy raises his eyebrows multiple times towards Sui. 

Sui frowns.  _ There’s something I’m definitely missing out on.  _ He shoots another look at Karu. 

“For free?! Yay!!” Karu cheers. 

Sui sighs and gives a disappointed shrug. 

“Yay!” The ponytailed girl echos, bouncing towards the dark curtains covering the door. She lifts them up, and gestured into the door. “Go in! Go in!”

“Come Sui, let’s go!” Karu exclaims and walks into the door. Sui quietly follows behind. As he enters, Sui notices the Rako-Sui-Karu boy giving a sneaky thumbs-up.  _ I don’t know what you are thinking but there you go, kid.  _ He makes a lazy karate chop onto the boy’s head who responds with an ‘Ow!’. 

The curtains closes behind Sui and Karu, all hints of sunlight gone. It is dark but Sui is able to see a few feet ahead of him, thanks to the soft green light illuminating from the ground.  _ Crystals? Glowstones?  _ Sui isn’t that familiar with geology and rocks, but he has heard of such things when he is worked at a ryokan.  _ How much did they spend to get these? _

“Sui, can you see?” Karu calls out. 

_Obviously not._ He walks towards Karu and places a hand on his shoulder. “It’s a bit dark so watch your step,” he says. 

Karu ‘mm’s in response. He walks forward, leading Sui, hands stretching out to the front. Only a couple of steps in and they run into another curtain blocking their path.

“Sui…” Karu whispers. 

“Hmm?”

“I’m…” Karu lowers his voice even lower, until Sui can barely hear him over the creepy soft sounds playing at the background. “Ahaha...I think I’m scared.”

“What?”

“Erm." Awkward pause. "H-Hold my hands?" 

Sui blinks.  _ That was sudden. _ It’s not like he minds; it is not the first time they are going to be holding hands. "Are you sure it’s okay?" He whispers. "Your students will see."

Karu grabs Sui’s hand from his shoulder, dropping behind his hips. "It’s okay, we just have to hide it." 

"Are you sure?" Sui asks again.

Karu wraps his hand around Sui’s and squeezes it tightly. He heaves a heavy sigh of relief. “Yes."

_ Are you that scared?!  _ Sui is surprised. He always thought Karu isn’t afraid of scary stuff. "You weren’t like that when we watch horror movies," Sui comments, trying to lighten the mood at the same time .

"Those were with a crowd," Karu says. "And those were just movies. They weren’t real."

"Technically, this isn’t either." Sui points out.

"I mean, this is not real-real but still real, you know? But you are right, Sui. I think." Karu glances nervously at his surroundings. He squeezes Sui’s hand even tighter. "Then, I’m going to draw the curtains, okay?"

"Okay."

"HAH!!" Karu yells a brave warcry. Sui’s heart jumps and he reactively closes his eyes, half from fear, and half from the shock from Karu’s sudden cry.

"HIIIYAAAA!!!" 

Suddenly, Sui feels Karu’s arms wrapped around his torso, face buried into his chest. Surprised, Sui opens his eyes. Sitting in front of them is a boy in white messy hair covered in dirt - or blood, Sui cannot tell. He sits slouched, almost devoid of life, face pale and half-looking at them, uniform stained in dirt - or blood. 

_ That’s isn’t very scary.  _ Sui glances down to Karu, still shaking in fear.  _ So much for hiding it.  _

The boy opens his mouth, his voice weak and lifeless. "K-a-r-u-s-a-w-s-e-n-s-e-i..." his voice surrounds them. 

_ Oh, that’s quite impressive. _

"Karusawa-sensei," his repeats, dragging his voice. "Help me..."

"Mmgh," Karu slowly turns around, but does not look directly at his student. "Sasuke-kun w-what happened how can I help??"

_ Oi, it’s all an act you know?  _ Sui is personally freaking out a little too, but with Karu more afraid than him, he is somehow able to handle it better. 

"Sensei," Sasuke starts. "Senei, help me up. I need to go to the infirmary..." He sluggishly brings his arms up towards Karu. "Quick..."

_ It’s an obvious trap.  _ Karu shoots him a pitiful ‘I know but still’ look. Suo shakes his head and returns him a ‘You still got to do it’ face. 

Karu takes a breath and releases his arms from Sui. He grabs Sui’s hand, clenching it tightly and gives an unconvincingly determined ‘I'm going to so it’ look. Sui can’t help but be amused at how Karu is handling everything. 

Karu lowers his and Sui’s hands again to the back of his hips ( _ There’s really no need to hide it anymore _ , Sui thought), and inches his way towards Sasuke. "Wang!" He shouts with each step, his face getting more contorted with each shout. "Wang! Waaang!"

_ Are you a dog?  _

"W-waang!" Karu finally grabs Sasuke’s hands. He entire body squirms as if he has constipation when he makes the contact. "Nnn! Nnnyaaaaaaaaa!"

_ A cat?! _

"Thanks, Karusawa-sensei," Sasuke says as he pulls himself up. Just as he gets off the chair, a loud  _ crack _ followed by the sound of ripping clothes surrounds them. Sui almost chokes as he sees the boy’s arm ripping off his body, along with his uniform’s sleeve. 

"Sens-" 

"NYAAAAAAAASARGH!!' Karu’s scream fills the room. He drops the ripped arm and returns to Sui’s chest. Sui instinctively places his hands on Karu’s head, stroking it, trying his best to soothe him. 

Sasuke falls back to the chair, closes his eyes and tilts his head away, acting dead. The room is silent again, save for the background sounds. 

"Karu?" Sui whispers. "Karu, I think this part’s done."

Silence, save for Karus muffled whimpering. 

"Sui, let’s go home."

"What?"

"It’s scary."

"Karu, if it’s so scary, why did you enter?"

"I..." Karu pauses, as if to find the right words. "I...didn’t know?"

Sui sighs. "It’s okay, Karu. I’m here with you." 

"You want to continue?"

_ I don’t mind.   _ "Don’t you want to see your student’s hard work?" Sui says. 

"Nnn," Karu grumbles reluctantly. Sui knows Karu takes a lot of pride in being a homeroom teacher, and how much he loves his students. Everyday he would go on and on about how wonderful and problematic they are. "Ok," Karu eventually agrees. "But you go first."

“M-me?” Sui doesn’t like the idea of leading. In fact, the reason why he thought it was fine is because Karu was leading.

“Yes. If you don’t want to we should call it quits and leave.”

Sui looks down at Karu, who is still not letting go of him. He doesn’t mind leaving, but it feels like a waste to do so. After all, they got in for free. 

_ And it’s been awhile since we are this close _ . 

That thought lingers in Sui’s mind. It’s true, they haven’t hugged or held hands recently, especially since they don’t want anyone to know about their relationship. He brushes Karu’s hair. He knows it’s selfish but he wants this to last a little longer, even if it costs their sanity. 

“Okay, I’ll lead,” he says with the straightest face he can muster.

“You will?” Karu sounds surprised. He releases his hold on Sui but grabs his hand again. Clenching it tightly, he heaves a breath again, summoning his courage. “Don’t walk too far, okay?”

Sui clenches back. “I won’t,” he says, walking past Karu, but keeping him close. 

Another back curtain stands in their way. Sui makes a miserable face, which luckily Karu cannot see.  _ What have I done?  _ A wave of regret and fear wraps his chest, sending his heart pounding faster in anxiety. Sui takes a breath.  _ Hah...it’s okay, it’s okay.  _ He repeats to himself and grabs the curtain. “I’m opening it, okay?’

He feels Karu’s body press onto him from behind. “Okay,” Karu’s voice sounds close. It is a scared voice, but Sui takes comfort in it.  _ It’s okay, Karu’s here. Karu’s here.  _ He repeats to himself.

“I’m opening, okay?” Sui says. 

“Okay.” 

Silence.

“I’m opening.”

“...Sui, if you are afraid we can-”

Sui doesn’t let Karu finish. With a tug, he pulls,open the curtain. 

"Wait! Sui! I am not r-" but it is too late. Right in front of them stands a terrifying-looking monster, it’s mouth abnormally wide open. The light illuminating its face from below gives it a sinister hungry look.  _ Screeeeeech!  _ It inches forward, eyes gleaming, and a terrible shriek fills the room.

"Suiiii-hi-hi-hi!!" Karu cries from behind. He throws his arm around Sui again, this time from the back.

"W-?!" Sui feels his heart choking his throat as he tries to scream. He desperately tries backs off, but Karu’s stand and grip are too firm. "K-Karu!" Sui finds his voice. "It’s close! It’s close! M-move!"

"Sui, noo! Don’t let it get me!" Karu exclaims, holding Sui in place, using him as a human meatshield. Without anywhere to move, Sui flails his arms helplessly, and ends up in a blocking pose; arms crossed in front of his face.

"Gyaaa!!! Don’t eat me!"

It’s over in a matter of seconds. The shrieking stopped, the monster halted only a hair’s distance away from Sui, it’s mouth almost touching his arms and it’s lights dimming away. Sui peeks over his arms.  _ It’s not moving?  _ Cautiously, he pokes the monster’s face. 

No response.

"K-Karu, you can let go now. I think it’s over."

Karu peeks from behind Sui. "Stupid jump scares," he mutters under his breath. "I thought I was going to die." 

Sui chuckles. "Well, I had to die first before that happens."

"Oh! I-I’m sorry!" Karu stutters. "I should’ve listened and backed away."

"Eh? Oh it’s fine." 

"I’ll make up for it!" Karu says. "For the next one I-I-I’ll lead!"

Sui shakes his head. As much as he likes the idea of Karu leading, it will most probably end up like the first encounter. Plus it doesn’t seem fair that Karu goes twice at taking lead.

_ But… _

"Okay," Sui agrees, hating himself a little.  _ It’s okay, I’ll treat him to something later.  _

The light from the monster before fades away, until it is all dark again. Karu walks towards the next curtain, with Sui following closely behind. "How many sections are there?" Sui asks.

"This should be the last one," Karu replies. "They wanted to do more but it was going way over budget."

_ How much is the budget?  _ Sui wants to ask, but Karu had already moved forward to the next curtain. He turns around nervously, reaching a hand backwards towards Sui, who complies and holds it. Karu grips tight. Sui can hear him heaving a breath as always before drawing the curtains.

"W-wan..." Ksru whispers softly. The room is pitch dark, not a single strand of light illuminating it, not even a single of those glowing stones. 

Sui gulps. He doesn’t like what he’s feeling right now. Karu whimpers. Sui draws his body closer to Karu’s, his other hand resting on his shoulder. With that, they shuffle their way in. 

The curtain closes behind them and the room plunges into complete darkness. It is completely silent too, Sui notices. The music had stopped and he can hear their irregular breathing. Sui’s heart stops. He thinks he knows what’s coming. Before he can prepare himself, lights flare on. 

_ Wha-! _

"Nyaaargh!!"

Blinded by the light, Sui aimlessly reaches around. Suddenly, he feels something -  _ many  _ things - tickling his face. He flails, trying to swipe whatever it is away. He tries to open his eyes. He cannot identify exactly what is assaulting him but it looks like-

"Gyaaa!! B-Bats!!"

_ Bats?!  _

Sui stumbles, fighting hard against the fear. He feels his feet clashing into something, and as he turns to check, Karu’s arm falls onto his face, smashing it like a misplaced clothesline. 

_ Gwah!  _ Face numb with pain, Sui trips and falls helplessly onto the ground, his face writhing in pain. Before he can recover, a large weight falls onto his body and his face, flattening him onto the ground. Sui can hear the sound of something hard knocking resonating in his head, as he temporarily passes out.

“Mmm?” The pain throbs away with the numbness. Sui still feels as if he’s being crushed by a strangely shaped heavy mattress. He tries to turn, his chest tightens as he feels a familiar brushing of lips.  _ Wait?!  _ His eyes part open. Karu’s face is right on top of his, eyes closed and presumably unconscious for now. Sui’s body reacts, as if it is suddenly aware that their bodies are together, suddenly aware of that fact Karu’s legs are on his, his face is on his, his chest and torso are on his, his hips-

Sui turns his head, face flushing red, knocking away Karu’s face from his. “K-Karu, get off me,” he wheezes, trying to sound as calm as possible with his heart beating like a taiko drum. 

“Nnrg,” Karu groans, his eyes flutter open. “Sui? What…?” He pushes himself up, arms at the sides of Sui’s head. Sui cannot look back. This pose is too much for him. “Oh my god, I’m sorry!” Karu realizes the situation and immediately gets onto his, turning away from Sui, face probably just as red. 

With Karu off his body, Sui gets up too. The air hangs heavy and awkward. It had been some time since something like  _ that  _ happened. He touches his lips, heart still pounding, wondering if he is happy about what just happened. 

_ Well, we are technically together, so it’s okay right? _

Soft laughter from outside interrupts his train of thoughts. Sui sighs, knowing fully well what it means.  He wonders if Karu thinks the same. “Karu, let’s head out.”

“Oh. Okay.” Karu voice is still like a stone, still shaken by what just happened. 

“Hey,” Sui walks closer and says softly. He gently grabs Karu by the shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay, okay?”

“It’s supposed to be a secret,” Karu mutters.

“We did discuss that they will find out soon or later, remember? Besides,” Sui grimaces. Now he understands what all the weird actions Karu’s students were making meant. “I think they already guessed.”

“It’s going to be so awkward,” Karu protests.

“We can pretend nothing happened.” Sui gives a shrug. “Not like we actually made it official or anything.”

Karu pauses to consider.

“It’d be fine, trust me.” Sui reassures. 

“Mm, okay!” Karu forces a smile. Sui knows that he is trying hard to conceal, but he gives an approving nod.

They walk towards the door at the side of the room, which they presume is the exit, and opens it, bright streams of sunlight pouring in. Sui never felt so glad to see the sun.  

“Congratulations!!” A cheery female voice greets. It is the ponytailed girl, and if Sui isn’t imagining things, she seems much more excited than usual. “How did go?!” She asks.

“Oh, we know how it w- _ oi! _ ” The Karu-Rudo-Rako boy tries to start, but the ponytailed girl pushes him away before he can finish his sentence. 

“It was super scary!” Karu makes a pout. “And embarrassing. You made us scream.”

“Oh, we did more than make you guys screa- _ ow! _ ” The boy tries to start again, but the girl kicks him on the shin. Sui throws a questionable look at Karu. S _ houldn’t you stop them? _

“Ah, we were pretty successful though! Tons of good reviews! We wouldn’t have done it without your extra money!” She gives Karu a thumbs up. “That’s why I think it’s fair to give you a free ride with your friend!”

“That’s not the only reas- _ mmph! _ ” The boy, again, tries to speak, but this time, his mouth is covered by the pretty long haired girl from before, who sneaked up behind him. 

“Ahaha!” Karu laughs. “I think you guys did a really good job! Well done! As expected of students from my class!”

_ Seems like he’s back.  _ Sui gives a small smile.

“Oh you guys should visit the rest of the festival though! Here!” The ponytail girls takes out a few pieces of paper. Free coupons, apparently. “You can exchange them for food for free at the level below! We did a collaboration!” She beams proudly.

Karu takes the coupons. “Wow, you guys really went all out with this, huh?” He rubs his stomach. “Now that I think about it, all that scare made me hungry. We’ll be going off then! Bye!” 

Waving the students goodbye, they walk away from the classroom. Karu grins from ear to ear, counting the free coupons that he got. “So Sui, what should we eat first? We have taiyaki, yakisoba and - oh! You should totally try takoyaki! Osaka is famous for them! Or maybe this-”

Sui lets Karu trail on. He looks back at Karu’s students just before they get out of sight. The students notice and smile back, all of them giving thumbs up and sneaky grins.

Sui  can’t hide the smirk on his face.


End file.
